Cardiovascular disease potentially contributes to the progression and poor prognosis of COVID-19

Abstract Background A novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused pneumonia, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), outbroke in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and spread all over the world. Patients with COVID-19 showed huge differences in the hospital stays, progression and prognosis. As reported, the comorbidities may play an important role in COVID-19. Here, we aim to address the role of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the progression and prognosis of COVID-19. Methods 83 confirmed COVID-19 patients were divided into the CVD (n=42) and non-CVD (n=41) group according to their medical history. Medical records information including demographic data, medical history, clinical characteristics, laboratory examinations, chest computed tomography (CT) as well as treatment measures were collected, analyzed and compared between two groups. Results COVID-19 patients with CVD showed: (1) more severe pathological changes in the lung, (2) elevated injury-related enzymes including α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HDBH), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), creatine kinase (CK) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), (3) significantly increased uncontrolled inflammation related markers, such as c-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, serum ferritin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum amyloid A (SAA), (4) serious hypercoagulable status reflected by increased D-dimer and serum fibrinogen (FIB), and (5) higher mortality, compared to COVID-19 patients without CVD. Conclusions Our data indicated that CVD is a strong risk factor for a rapid progression and bad prognosis of COVID-19. More intensive medical care should be applied to patients with CVD to prevent rapid deterioration of the disease.